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Twilight, Part One
Twilight, Chapter One: Buffy Has F#©$ing Superpowers is the thirty-second issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comic book series. Written by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Georges Jeanty, it was originally published on February 3, 2010 by Dark Horse Comics. Joss Whedon is the executive producer. Synopsis Faster than a speeding — you know. More powerful than a — yeah, one of those. Able to leap tall… castles in a single bound. Still working on that x-ray-vision thing. In the aftermath of battle with Twilight's army, Buffy has developed a host of new powers, but when will the other shoe drop, and will it be a cute shoe, or an ugly one? Still reeling from the losses of war, Willow goes looking for missing allies and discovers a horrifying truth about several of the Slayer army's recent ordeals.“Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #32 (Jo Chen cover)”. Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Summary In a dense forest in Tibet, Xander is putting Buffy through a battery of tests to determine what array of powers she now possesses. They discover that she is indeed faster than a speeding bullet, can leap tall buildings in a single bound (which she does while holding Xander in her arms) and can even hold a train over her head with one hand. Xander and Buffy are both in amazement over her powers, while Dawn appears worried. Inside a hut, Willow is magically levitating books and candles while absent mindedly listening to Dawn. Dawn rants about how nobody seems worried about Buffy's new abilities, where they came from, or what the consequences are for having them. She uses her recent Transformation Curse as example of one does not get something without something having to be given in return, and says that even Andrew would be more wary about it then everyone else has been, which leads Willow to ponder his whereabouts, as she had always been under the impression he was with Buffy and Xander. Meanwhile, in the jungle, Xander is using his superhero knowledge to quiz Buffy on other new powers, such as heat vision, x-ray vision, and telepathy. She attempting to trigger each o them, with no result. Back in the hut, Willow talks to Satsu via a satellite phone and asks if she has had any luck finding Andrew, Faith, or Giles, which she denies. Willow reasons Dawn's worry as her missing her own abilities, who in return reminds Willow that she just told her that her transformations were not really abilities and that Xander doesn't have abilities either. Willow responds that Xander still has Buffy, and this could be Dawn's real reason for reacting this way. Dawn tries to reassure that Xander and Buffy are just friends and have just made peace with that fact. Willow is pleased to hear this, and tells Dawn that even though they fought the wrathful goddesses for 48 hours straight, not everything that happens is going to lead to an apocalypse, but could be instead a reward for this. Dawn insists in the idea of The Monkey's Paw — you cannot get the good without the bad. Levitating above a pentagram encircled by candles, Willow tries to cast a calling spell to locate Faith, Giles, and Andrew. 7.2 miles away, at the Northern Cliffside, the General, Amy, and Warren have been observing Buffy's new powers and are wary that she will find them. Warren exhibits the same geeky nature that Xander does, while the general and Amy keep an eye out on Buffy. The general questions if Willow would be able to find them, which Amy denies because Willow doesn't know yet something happened. Back in the hut, Willow is still concentrating and casting her spell. While Dawn continues to try and get her attention, Willow suddenly warns Dawn that they need to leave. As Xander and Buffy continue their training, Willow and Dawn come running up to them, saying that they have bad news, she has suddenly realized that Giles, Faith and Andrew are missing. Dawn interjects and says this is the consequences coming into play, Willow and Buffy loudly dismiss her theories, while Xander is trying to figure out how to make a signal watch. Buffy and Willow discuss that the three were possibly teleported out of their perimeter, since nobody sensed the magic that took them or noticed they were missing. Buffy tells Willow to cast an unhiding spell and runs off in a blur. Back in the trees, Amy, Warren, and the General are watching the Scoobies, and Amy realizes that Willow has figured out what has happened and how they got in. Back in Willow's hut, she is casting a spell, which Buffy understands the chanting involves taking Willow to the Slayer who needs her most. As it's in another language, she noticing her new power of omnilingualism. Meanwhile, in the jungle, Amy senses that Willow has teleported away and the general orders them to be ready, because with Willow gone, their plan might work. Willow is teleported to an unnumbered apartment building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The apartment building hallway is disheveled and there is blood splattered everywhere, and she feels nauseous from the teleporting. She opens the door she was teleported in front of and hopes to find Faith, but is shocked to instead find a dead girl inside chained to a wall. In Tibet, Xander and Dawn search for Buffy, who, in a speeding blur, rushes up next to them and tells them she checked all of Giles' safe houses, including the ones in Budapest, England and Brussels. Buffy tries again to trigger a vision power, and hopes that she can rely on Willow bringing them news very soon. Port of Miami, Florida. Willow is transported to a metal container on the docks. She notices the same disheveled look in the container that she noticed in the apartment building. She casts a light spell and reveals anti-Slayer graffiti on the walls and comes upon a wooden crate with something inside. She gets closer, only to see yet another dead girl inside the crate. Meanwhile, Andrew, Faith and Giles wake up laying on the floor. Andrew lays eyes upon something large in front of him, which he recognizes. He goes on to explain how the mechanism in front of him is a death trap for heroes straight out of comic stories, and explains further that he and Warren had talked about building one to kill Buffy and her friends (which he apologizes for). Faith questions their whereabouts, and Andrew deducts they are in Twilight's headquarters and not some prison, which Andrew realizes when he sees the death trap control room that Warren built for Twilight's use. While Andrew admires Twilight's control room, Giles wonders: if the three of them are in Twilight HQ, then where is everyone else? Willow is now teleported to an unnamed marsh in the Atchafalaya Basin of Morgan City, Louisiana. As she makes her way through, she realizes that there is a living person nearby, and soon a weak voice begs for help. Willow runs to the aid of a seriously injured girl lying by the swamp, and she senses that this girl is a Slayer. Willow quickly offers a healing spell, but the girl, named Cori, tells her it would not be any use to waste her magic. Cori explains how they were training in Atlanta when a mob found them and attacked them. Willow questions exactly who the "they" are, and to her horror, she looks out into the swamp to see dozens of dead Slayers floating in the water. As she continues to weaken, Cori begs Willow not to tell Buffy they failed in their mission. In Tibet, Buffy realizes she has telescopic vision. Dawn redirects Buffy's vision towards the cliff sides, and Buffy manages to spy something. The General is still on lookout for Buffy in the trees, while Warren feels that she has found them, and they talk about how they are going to get away quick enough. Suddenly, the trio of villains looks in the sky and sees Buffy hovering over them. They are joined by Xander and Dawn, who are shocked to see that they surrendered so easily. Amy, Warren, and the General explain how Twilight used them to further his own agenda and then discarded them, which has made them angry enough to approach Buffy with an offer: if she helps them, they will help her destroy Twilight. Suddenly, Willow teleports nearby and Buffy uses her super-speed to join her. Willow tries to explain to Buffy that Dawn was right, that her powers are not all good and that she can feel that something bad is about to happen. Willow tells Buffy that her powers are not gifts for defeating the goddesses, and conjures magical holograms of the dead Slayers she encountered. Willow explains that many Slayers were killed in their battle against the wrathful goddesses, but there were multiple and simultaneous attacks on the Slayers all over the world. Buffy becomes scared by what Willow is telling her, and Willow agrees, before revealing that she is getting her powers from every Slayer who dies. Buffy looks horrified. At Twilight HQ, Andrew, and Giles discover that they were teleported in through Amy's magic, which allowed Amy, Warren, and the general to take the place of the three that were teleported out of Willow's magical safety boundaries. As Andrew hacks the security codes to the control room, Faith and Giles recall that Riley told them there were four bad guys. Before the thought can be finished, Twilight comes out of the control room and faces Faith, Giles and Andrew, asking them if they would like to hear a really cool master plan. Continuity *Dawn is described as having been a giant (The Long Way Home, Part One), a centaur (Time of Your Life, Part One), and a living doll (Living Doll). *When realizing Xander owned a gun, Buffy cynically stated, "I don't like them. They keep killing my friends." This alludes to her friend Tara's murder in episode "Seeing Red". *Buffy mentions having been fighting the masked Twilight for months, as their first encounter was in A Beautiful Sunset. *This story is determined as taking place a day after Buffy gained her new powers in Retreat, Part Five, when she noticed her flight ability. Testing them, she first displays enhanced Slayer powers — super speed, super strength, and super leap —, as well as telescopic vision, superhuman hearing, and omnilingualism. *This issue marks the first appearance of a smartphone in the Buffyverse, as opposed to feature phones that have appeared in many episodes since "Welcome to the Hellmouth". *Buffy attempts to read Xander's mind; she had been temporally infected with telepathy in episode "Earshot". *Willow first guesses Buffy's new powers are the universe's temporary reward; Angel will confirm this in Twilight, Part Two. *Amy is described as previously being a rat ("Gingerbread") and now craving cheese ("Smashed"). *As Willow is transported through the world to the Slayer who needs her the most, she'll eventually save Nadira, the lone survivor from a massacre in the Azores (Family Reunion, Part One). *Andrew describes Faith as becoming a Slayer when Buffy died. However, Faith's calling was only triggered by Kendra Young's death, in "Becoming, Part One". Appearances Individuals *Cori *Riley Finn *The General *Rupert Giles *Alexander Harris *Ken *Faith Lehane *Amy Madison *Warren Mears *Willow Rosenberg *Satsu (Only voice) *Buffy Summers *Dawn Summers *Twilight *Andrew Wells Organization and titles *Scooby Gang *Slayer *Slayer Organization *Twilight Group *Witch *Wrathful goddess Species *Centaur *Ghost *Giant *Human *Living doll *Rabbit *Rat *Slayer *Squirrel *Thricewise *Vampire Locations *Brussels, Belgium **Giles' safe house III *Budapest, Hungary **Giles' safe house I *China **Tibet ***Northern cliffsides ***Forest ***Tibetan monastery *England **Giles' safe house II *Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia **Unnumbered apartment building ***Third floor *Twilight headquarters *United States **Miami, Florida ***Port of Miami ****Container #601174-7 **Morgan City, Louisiana ***Atchafalaya Basin ****Unnamed marsh Weapons and objects *Gun Rituals and spells *Calling spell *"Shuunati Fuug Ghallgah der Shtuul" *Thgil *Transformation Curse Death count *Numerous Slayers, including Cori, killed by the Twilight Group. Behind the scenes Production *Georges Jeanty's variant cover homages ''Action Comics'' #1 (1938) by Joe Shuster. The cover includes as well cameos appearances of Joss Whedon, Scott Allie, and Jeanty himself."Season 8 Library Edition, Volume 4" *Breaking the fourth wall, Willow says: "It doesn't mean that every month — on every wednesday — it has to be the end of the world," a reference to ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' comics publishing date. Similar commentaries are also done in episode "Once More, with Feeling" ("Must be Tuesday.") and issue Return to Sunnydale, Part One ("Or as we call it, Wednesday."). *The comparison between Buffy and Kitty Pryde is a nod to the latter being Joss Whedon's biggest inspiration for Buffy.Gavin Edwards, “Joss Whedon's next project: Astonishing X-Men Comic Books”. New York Magazine, June 07, 2004. Retrieved March 13, 2019. Distribution *'' '' was the 28th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 47,975 sales in February 2010 at comic specialty stores.“Top 300 Comics Actual--February 2010”. ICv2, March 10, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Collections *"Twilight" *"Season 8 Library Edition, Volume 4" *"Omnibus: Season 8, Volume 2" Pop culture references *Xander has "Goonies never say die" written on his bullet, a quote from the movie The Goonies (1985). *Xander quotes "You've got me? Who's got you?" from the movie Superman (1978), recreating the scene while being carried by a flying Buffy. *Andrew compares Willow's future with the Dark Phoenix comic story. *Andrew painting a magic lasso for Buffy is a likely reference to the fictional item Lasso of Truth. *Dawn mentions the short story The Monkey's Paw (1902). *Xander refers to the powers and poses of fictional characters Wolverine, Batman, and Spider-Man. *Xander tests Buffy following the opening of Adventures of Superman television series (1952–1958), as Dawn and Amy later begin to quote: "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." *Xander compares Buffy's personality with fictional character Kitty Pryde, expecting her to have the same phasing ability. *Xander refers to the fictional superhero Tick asking Buffy to repeat his catchphrase "Spoon!" *Xander mentions his interest in creating a Signal Watch. *Willow mentions Andrew filming a joke for YouTube video-sharing website. *Andrew wakes up singing the song "Uptown Girl" (1983). *Andrew exclaims "Suffering Sappho", a phrase associated with fictional superhero Wonder Woman. Gallery Cover artwork Buffy flight.jpg|Jo Chen cover B8-32-01.jpg|Georges Jeanty variant Preview B8-32-P1.jpg B8-32-P2.jpg B8-32-P3.jpg B8-32-P4.jpg B8-32-P5.jpg Quotes References nl:Twilight, Deel Eén Category:Buffy comics Category:Season Eight